Julianne Hough has revealed the identity of the former Dancing with the Stars champion whom she believes didn't really deserve to win the mirrorball trophy.

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On Sunday's episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, host Andy Cohen asked Julianne if there's ever been a Dancing with the Stars winner she's strongly disagreed with.

RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)

Julianne -- a former Dancing with the Stars champion herself who currently co-hosts the show alongside Alfonso Ribeiro -- took a second to think about her options.

Andy's other guest, Mickey Guyton, nudged Julianne and appeared to whisper in her ear, "Bobby Bones."

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"Oh!" Julianne shouted. "I think she has an answer for that! I actually agree with you."

Julianne explained of Bobby, who had won Dancing with the Stars' 27th season with pro partner Sharna Burgess, "I think it's because of the fanbase, right? It's all about fanbase on that show."

"He was not the best dancer," Julianne added, "I agree."

But Julianne and Mickey briefly discussed how Bobby is "great" and simply has "a lot of fans" who "love him."

When Bobby and Sharna won the mirrorball trophy in late 2018, the world was totally shocked by the finale results.


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According to Good Morning America's Michael Strahan, oddmakers initially predicted Bobby and Sharna's chances of winning Dancing with the Stars' 27th season were slim to none.

Michael said that Bobby and Sharna had essentially been selected as the least-likely couple to be crowned champions.

But Bobby, who is from a small town in Arkansas, didn't let that stop him from chasing the gold.

"It was every day for us. It wasn't that we were looking at weeks [ahead] or even to the finale, it was practice by practice," Bobby explained of his Dancing with the Stars strategy on a November 2018 episode of GMA.

"And every single practice, when we finished practice, we said, 'Okay, today is done.' One day at a time, one climb at a time. That was our work ethic."

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Bobby admitted on GMA, "I've never danced before and I was surrounded by every single person who's a better dancer than me... Every person here [was better]."

On Dancing with the Stars' Season 27 finale, Bobby and Sharna were up against model Alexis Ren and her pro partner Alan Bersten, Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch and her partner Keo Motsepe, and actor Milo Manheim and his partner Witney Carson.

"I had the best coach and the best teammate who figured out how to teach me, and I think that's a testament to her, because I was Gumby!" Bobby joked.

"I didn't know what I was doing at all. But [Sharna] taught me and we are here because of that, and I'm very grateful. Thank you to everyone."

Sharna, however, refused to take all the credit for Bobby's success on the ABC reality dancing competition.


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"I don't know if I cracked any code, honestly. I just think it was a winning combination of Bobby and I being together and it being about something else this season for us. It wasn't about trying to be the best dancer out there; it was about trying to be the best us," Sharna explained.

"We knew we were in our own competition, and like Bobby said, it was week to week and practice to practice -- are we getting better and what more can we do? I really love that Bobby lives up to that 'fail until you don't.' That was really our message the whole season. And then, we did not fail!"

Following Bobby and Sharna's unpopular win, Dancing with the Stars did not ask Sharna to return for Season 28.

"My last five years on the show have been rocky -- not because of the show. I love the show deeply, but we had a new executive producer come in, I think five years ago now," Sharna said on her "Oldish" podcast in September 2023.

"I had just won with Bobby Bones and he decided to not bring me back. There's a lot of speculation as to why."


Sharna pointed out how her win with Bobby was probably "the most explosive end" and the "most controversial" victory in Dancing with the Stars history.

"I got caught up in this whirlwind of hate for that win, which was really yucky," Sharna noted at the time.

"And so I went into this space of self-blame when I wasn't asked back. I thought, 'This was my fault. What did I do?' But I worked through that, and that was good. And they had me back the following season."

RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)

Dancing with the Stars' 33rd season is set to premiere Tuesday, September 17 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.

Julianne, a former Dancing with the Stars judge, will be returning as co-host, and her brother Derek Hough will be reprising his role on the judging panel alongside Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.














About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.